Hebrew Creation Myth Essay
Throughout history, every society has had some form of myths that have significance or reasoning behind why they have been shared with society. Whether it is myth designed to teach a valuable lesson or a myth that explains something as simple as why the seasons change the way that they do, to these societies they all have played some sort of purpose in explaining why life is the way that it is for them. But while these myths cover that wide range of topics, there is only one myth that can hold distinction of explaining where life itself came from: the creation myth. These are myths that are unique to every culture, society, and religion known to mankind because without them people would not have understood where they and all the living things in the world came from. Two examples of these myths are the Mesopotamian creation myth and the Hebrew creation
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myth, two myths that show just how different these two societies where in terms of life and religion. In Mesopotamia, home for the people that lived in this civilization was land situated the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They used these rivers to carry goods and to provide water for irrigation and which helped with being able to farm on the land. Mesopotamia was also first form of writing created by a group of people called the Sumerians, this writing was called cuneiform and they used it to record information about their society. As the many city-states in Mesopotamia developed their own religious, political and military institutions warfare became quite common among the many cities. (History, 13). Wars were fought for control of land, water and due to religious differences. As for religion in Mesopotamia, Sumerians and later groups of people felt that the world was controlled by gods and goddesses, who represented cosmic forces such as the sun, moon, water, and storms (History, 14). Each city had a large temple built to honor these gods. People believed that humans had been created to serve the gods and the best way for them to honor the gods was to make the temple in the city that honored them as large and impressive as they possibly could. The gods were also said to have judged good and evil and would punish those that were to have lied or cheated (History, 14). Gods, like humans, were also said to suffer for their actions, sometimes for no reason at all, just as the humans did. (History, 14). Mesopotamians had many myths that explained how the universe had been created and one known myth tells the story of the battle between the sun-god Marduk and the sea-goddess Tiamat. In the myth, Marduk is asked to join a war among the gods by Ea to help defeat Tiamat (Sources, 2). In this war, he battles Tiamat and he creates the universe when he kills her and splits her body in half and creates the sky and the earth (History, 15). For the Hebrews, home for them did not exactly come right away. A nomadic tribe, they were first enslaved by the Egyptians and were lead out of Egypt by their leader Moses. Moses was to lead them in search of what was supposed to be the Promised Land and they spent forty years searching for it (History, 41). They eventually settled in the land known as Canaan which was situated between the Mediterranean and Jordan rivers and there they had land for farming and freshwater. The Hebrew’s encountered other nomadic tribes while in Canaan from which they learned things from and fought against them. Under the three kings Saul, David, and Solomon, the Hebrew Kingdom began to grow. This included establishing a capital in the kingdom when David captured the city of Jerusalem during war with the Philistines which became the religious and political center of his realm (History, 42). David’s son Solomon also launched building projects that included palaces, cities, roads, and fortresses along with the Temple of Jerusalem which was intended to be the religious heart of the kingdom (History, 42). As for the Hebrew religion, they only had one god unlike the Mesopotamians, whom they called Yahweh and this was the only god they were to worship according to Yahweh himself as according to the Covenant, which was an agreement between him and the Hebrew people (History, 43). The Hebrews had rules of behavior which were called the Ten Commandments that forbade certain actions such as lying, stealing, and killing and from these Commandments later came a system of rules that became Hebrew law. While Hebrews did believe that Yahweh would punish people similar to what the Mesopotamians thought about their gods, they also believed that he was loving and forgiving and would protect and reward those who obeyed his commandments. The Hebrew’s like the Mesopotamians had a creation myth of their own as well. In their myth, God was said to create the world in six days: the first day he created day and night, the second day he created water and the sky, the third day he created land, plants, and trees, the fourth day he created the sun, moon, and stars, the fifth day he created animals, and the sixth day he created man, and finally he rested on the seventh day and made it the holy day which we now consider to be Sunday. When comparing these two creation myths, the biggest difference that stood out were the people mentioned in these myths. In the Mesopotamian myth, there where multiple gods and goddesses described which reflects Mesopotamian culture in terms of the fact that the citizens of that society worshipped multiple Gods and Goddesses. While the Hebrew creation myth only states that one God created the universe and this reflects Hebrew culture because the Hebrews were only to believe in one God and no one else. Mesopotamian life was also reflected in their creation myth because the world was created according to them in what seems like a violent manner with the goddess Tiamat being cut in half during and her body being cut in half to create the universe, Mesopotamian life was often filled with constant wars and battles so it seems fitting almost that the world to them was basically created during a war.
The Hebrew creation myth however tells of the Earths creation in what seems to be both peaceful yet still violent manner as compared to the Mesopotamian myth.
This reflects Hebrew culture because while there was war and tension throughout the kingdom, there also came about times of success and growth in the kingdom as well which could be compared to when the lord says to the first people on Earth “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the Earth and subdue it.” (Sources, 23). The myth also talks about food that God said told the first people they could eat when he says “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food” (Sources, 23). God does not tell them that they can eat the livestock, and this reflects Hebrew culture because there were laws that told about certain things that they were allowed to eat and not to eat according to the Torah, which were the first five books of the Hebrew bible and provided many rules of Hebrew life, similar to how God had what could be considered rules for the first two people on
Earth.
These types of rules where not described in the creation myth of the Mesopotamians, this shows that the Hebrews in some respects had a more structured way of life because they knew they had to follow what Yahweh told them to do and they did not have to listen to anyone else to for guidance. While the Mesopotamians knew that they were put on Earth to serve and honor the Gods and there was really no overall set rules for them to follow unlike the Hebrews because they all listened to many different Gods and Goddesses on what to do. This obviously made for a lot more confliction between city-states because they all would have believed that their way was better unlike the Hebrews which only knew of one way and this made for less tension in the kingdom. Simply put, Mesopotamia simply had no clear go God to follow and because of this unity did not come easy for the rulers of this kingdom who tried to bring them all together, while the Hebrews, although they did not have it so easy themselves, had an easier time following their God because they knew they were only supposed to follow one and this made it easier for the rulers of their kingdom to bring their people together as a whole. So when it comes to comparing these two myths and how they reflect society in these two cultures, having one God to follow instead of many makes it a lot easier to grow a kingdom and unite the people living there it is with having many Gods to follow because you do not have as much conflict and separation and the kingdom can become the dominant force it is supposed to be.
myth, two myths that show just how different these two societies where in terms of life and religion. In Mesopotamia, home for the people that lived in this civilization was land situated the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They used these rivers to carry goods and to provide water for irrigation and which helped with being able to farm on the land. Mesopotamia was also first form of writing created by a group of people called the Sumerians, this writing was called cuneiform and they used it to record information about their society. As the many city-states in Mesopotamia developed their own religious, political and military institutions warfare became quite common among the many cities. (History, 13). Wars were fought for control of land, water and due to religious differences. As for religion in Mesopotamia, Sumerians and later groups of people felt that the world was controlled by gods and goddesses, who represented cosmic forces such as the sun, moon, water, and storms (History, 14). Each city had a large temple built to honor these gods. People believed that humans had been created to serve the gods and the best way for them to honor the gods was to make the temple in the city that honored them as large and impressive as they possibly could. The gods were also said to have judged good and evil and would punish those that were to have lied or cheated (History, 14). Gods, like humans, were also said to suffer for their actions, sometimes for no reason at all, just as the humans did. (History, 14). Mesopotamians had many myths that explained how the universe had been created and one known myth tells the story of the battle between the sun-god Marduk and the sea-goddess Tiamat. In the myth, Marduk is asked to join a war among the gods by Ea to help defeat Tiamat (Sources, 2). In this war, he battles Tiamat and he creates the universe when he kills her and splits her body in half and creates the sky and the earth (History, 15). For the Hebrews, home for them did not exactly come right away. A nomadic tribe, they were first enslaved by the Egyptians and were lead out of Egypt by their leader Moses. Moses was to lead them in search of what was supposed to be the Promised Land and they spent forty years searching for it (History, 41). They eventually settled in the land known as Canaan which was situated between the Mediterranean and Jordan rivers and there they had land for farming and freshwater. The Hebrew’s encountered other nomadic tribes while in Canaan from which they learned things from and fought against them. Under the three kings Saul, David, and Solomon, the Hebrew Kingdom began to grow. This included establishing a capital in the kingdom when David captured the city of Jerusalem during war with the Philistines which became the religious and political center of his realm (History, 42). David’s son Solomon also launched building projects that included palaces, cities, roads, and fortresses along with the Temple of Jerusalem which was intended to be the religious heart of the kingdom (History, 42). As for the Hebrew religion, they only had one god unlike the Mesopotamians, whom they called Yahweh and this was the only god they were to worship according to Yahweh himself as according to the Covenant, which was an agreement between him and the Hebrew people (History, 43). The Hebrews had rules of behavior which were called the Ten Commandments that forbade certain actions such as lying, stealing, and killing and from these Commandments later came a system of rules that became Hebrew law. While Hebrews did believe that Yahweh would punish people similar to what the Mesopotamians thought about their gods, they also believed that he was loving and forgiving and would protect and reward those who obeyed his commandments. The Hebrew’s like the Mesopotamians had a creation myth of their own as well. In their myth, God was said to create the world in six days: the first day he created day and night, the second day he created water and the sky, the third day he created land, plants, and trees, the fourth day he created the sun, moon, and stars, the fifth day he created animals, and the sixth day he created man, and finally he rested on the seventh day and made it the holy day which we now consider to be Sunday. When comparing these two creation myths, the biggest difference that stood out were the people mentioned in these myths. In the Mesopotamian myth, there where multiple gods and goddesses described which reflects Mesopotamian culture in terms of the fact that the citizens of that society worshipped multiple Gods and Goddesses. While the Hebrew creation myth only states that one God created the universe and this reflects Hebrew culture because the Hebrews were only to believe in one God and no one else. Mesopotamian life was also reflected in their creation myth because the world was created according to them in what seems like a violent manner with the goddess Tiamat being cut in half during and her body being cut in half to create the universe, Mesopotamian life was often filled with constant wars and battles so it seems fitting almost that the world to them was basically created during a war.
The Hebrew creation myth however tells of the Earths creation in what seems to be both peaceful yet still violent manner as compared to the Mesopotamian myth.
This reflects Hebrew culture because while there was war and tension throughout the kingdom, there also came about times of success and growth in the kingdom as well which could be compared to when the lord says to the first people on Earth “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the Earth and subdue it.” (Sources, 23). The myth also talks about food that God said told the first people they could eat when he says “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food” (Sources, 23). God does not tell them that they can eat the livestock, and this reflects Hebrew culture because there were laws that told about certain things that they were allowed to eat and not to eat according to the Torah, which were the first five books of the Hebrew bible and provided many rules of Hebrew life, similar to how God had what could be considered rules for the first two people on
Earth.
These types of rules where not described in the creation myth of the Mesopotamians, this shows that the Hebrews in some respects had a more structured way of life because they knew they had to follow what Yahweh told them to do and they did not have to listen to anyone else to for guidance. While the Mesopotamians knew that they were put on Earth to serve and honor the Gods and there was really no overall set rules for them to follow unlike the Hebrews because they all listened to many different Gods and Goddesses on what to do. This obviously made for a lot more confliction between city-states because they all would have believed that their way was better unlike the Hebrews which only knew of one way and this made for less tension in the kingdom. Simply put, Mesopotamia simply had no clear go God to follow and because of this unity did not come easy for the rulers of this kingdom who tried to bring them all together, while the Hebrews, although they did not have it so easy themselves, had an easier time following their God because they knew they were only supposed to follow one and this made it easier for the rulers of their kingdom to bring their people together as a whole. So when it comes to comparing these two myths and how they reflect society in these two cultures, having one God to follow instead of many makes it a lot easier to grow a kingdom and unite the people living there it is with having many Gods to follow because you do not have as much conflict and separation and the kingdom can become the dominant force it is supposed to be.